


Oopsy Daisy

by Destiny_Enemy



Category: Red vs. Blue
Genre: Gen, Hurt No Comfort, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Self-Harm, Self-Hatred, Well small comfort, You Have Been Warned, aka their dysfunctional selves, but they don't know it, everyone are dicks, i guess, this is not a happy story
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-11
Updated: 2019-06-11
Packaged: 2020-04-24 10:10:42
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,714
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19171156
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Destiny_Enemy/pseuds/Destiny_Enemy
Summary: My take on how the bases REALLY burned down.READ THE TAGS PLEASE THIS IS NOT A HAPPY STORY IN THE SLIGHTEST.





	Oopsy Daisy

**Author's Note:**

> So, I'm not dead, just busy. Anyway, I thought this idea up at the beginning of season 17 and just now finished it, and it doesn't even have anything to DO with season 17! I'm a mess, I know. As always I how you enjoy.

Donut was in his room, a quaint little thing in the new Red base that was stationed on the moon of Chorus. He was humming an old tune as he tidied. He knew it well when he was younger, but he had long since forgotten the words, yet he always found the tune charming.

He roamed here and there, rearranging things and dusting where needed, little things to brighten the room up, although no one else stepped foot in the room aside from him and occasionally Doc or Caboose, his room really was the best for tea parties after all.

Donut gently grabbed one of his scented candles, watching the flame flicker with life, letting the warmth it brought seep into his bones. He raised his hand slowly, quickly waving it over the flame, letting it dance between his fingers, licking at them, a warning that if he was to slow, it could very well engulf them.

It reminded him of the first time he learned to do that. He couldn't have been any older than seven when he did. One day, his father beckoned him over, saying "Franklin, come here.

I wanna show you something." He walked over to his father, curiosity evident in his bright  blue eyes. "Look." His father quickly ran his hand over the flame, causing it to flicker  before returning to its calm state.

His eyes lit up with awe, his face one of disbelief as though he had just witnessed something impossible. He glanced up at his father with wide eyes, causing him to chuckle and his face to crack into a smirk of amusement. “Here.” he gestured to Franklin's hand, which the small child gave to him slowly, confusion overtaking the awe from before. 

The older male held his hand gently, a serious look covering his features. “Franklin,” he said, causing the child to meet his eyes. “Do you trust me?” His voice was stern, but not angry, as he slowly grabbed his son’s wrist.

Franklin knew this to be his father’s way of saying he wanted pure honesty. He stood up straighter and nodded his head, a determined look covering his features. His father brought his hand closer to the flame, holding just firmly enough that the child’s hand wouldn’t waver, but still gentle enough that if he felt the need to pull away he could.

He looked at his son once more, making sure that he was absolutely ready so that he wouldn’t get hurt due to any fear he had. They held eye contact for a few moments before Franklin took a steadying breath, nodding once again. 

His father quickly ran the child’s fingers over the flame, causing him to wince in the anticipation of pain before his eyes widened in amazement. He didn’t feel much of anything, other than a pleasant warmth across his fingers. He looked down at his hand in disbelief before his face cracked into a wide toothy grin as he threw his arms across his father’s neck in a tight hug.

The sound of a child’s giggling and a Father’s deep laugh filled the room as the memory slowly faded.

A small smile found its way onto Donut’s face at the distant memory, his heart longing for times long passed. The smile slowly faded as later memories made their way into his mind. As the years passed he and his father grew apart, they talked less, and their relationship deteriorated, leading to more fights and less happy moments together.

He never agreed with his Father’s views concerning certain matters, although as he got older he gained the wisdom to understand that it was better to keep quiet when his Father said something he didn’t agree with rather than try and change the man’s mind. He learned that the hard way when he turned thirteen and had to walk around with a bright red handprint on his face after openly arguing with his Father about something, he couldn’t quite remember what, but he did remember the sharp pain that followed his comment and the glowing rage in his Father’s eyes.

He remembered the time shortly after his sixteenth birthday, his Father caught him in the barn with their farmhand, a nice teen around his age, only a year or two older than himself. Deep brown hair that curled ever-so-slightly around the edges, framing his face with gentleness, vibrant green eyes that made his heart skip a beat every time they turned towards him, sun-kissed skin with just the tiniest hint of freckles littering his nose and cheeks, and a smile that made sixteen year old him weak in the knees.

The encounter had been short but memorable all the same. It hadn’t ended well, to say the least. He enlisted in the military as soon as he could, the two-year wait alone was almost unbearable.

Donut’s mind filled with all the memories he tried so hard to either forget about or bury so deep he no longer felt the pain of them. His chest hurt, his heart twisting and stomach tying in knots, making him feel sick and dizzy. The room spun and he felt like he was dying, memories flashing behind his eyes.

Sharp pain on his hand brought him back to reality. He looked down at the source, seeing that the candle had kept burning, and the wax eventually melted down to his hand, causing a small burn to appear where it had landed.

Donut felt his breath calming and his heart slowing down to a reasonable pace once again. He went to put the candle back in its place but found himself pausing, the pain was quickly fading and he almost missed it. He knew what this was, he knew how it ended, and yet he didn’t set the candle down, he instead pulled it closer towards himself before holding his arm out and tilting the candle, letting the hot wax hit his skin. 

The first few drops caused him to wince, he hadn’t done this in a while, the war on Chorus had kept them all busy, and he didn’t really have a room of his own until now. As he trailed the wax farther over his arm, he slowly started to realize just how much he missed this. The sharp pain on his tender flesh, the heat that spread, causing him to wince. The thrill that shot through him, making his heart race and his breath quicken. This was what he needed, this made things better, clearer.

After a few moments, the adrenaline kicked in, causing him to suck in air due to feeling as though he had been punched in the gut. Now things got dangerous, but that was all the more reason to keep going. He needed to make sure he didn’t leave anything he couldn’t treat on his own, but also make sure it was enough to hold him over for a few weeks at least. He also needed to make sure he didn’t leave anything that couldn’t be explained away with a simple excuse such as burning himself while cooking should anyone notice. He wasn’t too worried, seeing as his teammates didn’t pay him any mind most of the time, but he did have one close encounter with Washington that still gave him anxiety even thinking about it.

Eventually, the candle burned out, leaving his arm red and throbbing. That’s it then, he was done. The candle was out, he could stop now. That’s what he told himself, and he would have believed it if it hadn’t been for the other seven candles that still littered his room, each flame flickering, seeming to call out to him, and he had no choice but to answer. He wouldn’t use every last one mind you, he really did like the vanilla scent, and the lighting was to die for, but one more wouldn’t hurt.

He felt himself getting lost in the action, his body falling into the familiarity it, letting his mind wander, thinking of more pleasant things, or maybe nothing at all, he wasn’t quite sure. He could no longer feel the pain on his arm, it wasn’t that he had burned it too much and the nerves were damaged, he was just too far away at the moment to allow his body to feel anything unpleasant.

It was calm and quiet, and he was at peace for the first time in weeks. He could feel the warmth of the flame on his face, the steady drip of the wax on his arm. He felt his shoulders relaxing and his body finally calming. The heat was a consistent presence, and it almost felt like it reached his whole body, traveling up his back and sides, licking at them.

The glow from the other candles was comforting, another persistent presence. He could see it in the corner of his vision, bright and full of life. It almost seemed like it was growing in intensity, and with it, the heat. It slowly started growing uncomfortable, the heat on his arm paling in comparison to the heat everywhere else. A sharp scent hit his nose, causing his face to scrunch in disgust. It almost smelled like-

Donut suddenly snapped out of his daze, quickly blowing the candle out before letting it drop to the floor. He didn’t need to look to confirm the smell of burning fabric, the glow in the room had become so violent that he knew exactly what had happened. He quickly left his room, grabbing a few basic things on his way out, including his diary that he started back in Blood Gulch. He risked a glance behind him and confirmed his suspicions, he knocked over a candle, which in turn lit one of his curtains on fire, quickly engulfing the room in flames.

Sarge was already outside, most likely doing some maintenance on one of the warthogs, or building some useless invention that would either turn on him or just blow up. He usually dragged Lopez with him, and even if the robot wasn’t roped into some god awful plan, he had most likely ditched the base as soon as he smelled the smoke. That left Grif and Simmons, and Donut prayed to any god out there that they hadn’t picked now to reenact fanfic.

He sprinted down the hallway, screaming out “Fire!” right as he heard Grif say “Hey, do you smell something?”. He, Grif, and Simmons almost collided before Donut grabbed their hands, running to their rooms respectively before dragging both of them out of the steadily burning base.

By now, Sarge and Lopez were right outside the base, and Donut could see Wash and Tucker running over from Blue base. He braced his hands on his knees, coughing deeply for a few moments as he cleared smoke from his lungs.

“Are you guys ok?” Wash spoke, voice worried and loud over the crackling fire. Donut righted himself, a few smaller coughs leaving his mouth before giving Wash a half-hearted thumbs up. Wash gave his signature look of ‘I don’t believe you but I won’t pry’ before turning to the others.

“I think my eyebrows are gone, but other than that I’m fine.” Came Grif’s less than pleased response. Donut could tell he was pissed, which made his chest tight at the fact that he would have to explain what happened, for the most part, he would tell them about the candle, but there was no way he would say anything about his arm. He didn’t want them to know before, and he couldn’t begin to imagine how pissed they would be if the found out he burned down the freaking base because he was hurting himself.

“I think we’re all ok, a little shaken up, but yeah.” Was Simmons response, he seemed calmer than Grif, happier that they were all safe more than anything. That would change really soon, Donut knew just how heated Simmons could get.

“We would have been over here sooner but, well, you guys know how Caboose is with fire. Carolina is with him at the moment.” Wash said softly, as though he felt guilty, but also trying to explain it couldn’t be helped. So, he not only burned down the base, he made Caboose freak out, and most likely cry, all because he’s too weak to handle a few memories. The guys are going to  _ kill  _ him, honestly, it wouldn’t surprise him if Sarge starts shooting at him, maybe Grif as well. He wouldn’t blame them if they did, he kinda wishes they do.

“How the hell did this even happen?” Tucker asked the million dollar question, causing Donut’s throat to get tight and his chest to grow heavy, the sudden panic hitting him, causing him to freeze.

“Yeah, I’d like to know that as well,” Sarge says, voice thick with bewilderment and frustration. “I leave the base for a few minutes and you dirtbags somehow burn it down.” The frustration slowly leaves his voice as pure confusion overtakes it. 

Grif turns to Donut, confusion and a small amount of judgment on his face and at this moment Donut really wishes he had his armor on, even just his helmet, because he feels totally unprotected and exposed right now. 

“Donut, you were the first one to know about the fire,” Grif’s voice trails off, and everyone around them seems to know what he’s implying. “What happened?” The question hangs heavy in the air, and everyone is waiting for his reply, their eyes on him, tearing him apart, dissecting him, reading facial changes, body language, anything and everything he’s trying to keep hidden and he really wishes he had a lighter or a candle or even a blade at this point but that’s what started this mess and it wouldn’t help and dear god he  _ really _ doesn’t want to be here.

“Well…” He starts sheepishly, his uninjured hand going to the back of his neck as he rubs it, mainly to keep his hand busy so it doesn’t claw at the burns on his other arm and give himself away. “I may have uh,” Deep breaths, calm down, you’re sorry and you feel bad but that’s  _ it _ . Nothing else is wrong, you didn’t knock over a candle because you were burning yourself, you’re just clumsy. “I may have knocked over one of my scented candles, and it caught the curtain on fire.” Donut continues, voice soft and remorseful, and chock full of guilt that he is trying not to drown it, but hoping to be pulled under because death is better than explaining this. “And well,” He quickly gestured to the slowly burning Red base. “Yeah.” He finished rather lamely, breath leaving his lungs in a heavy exhale.

The air was thick with disbelief, everyone looking at Donut as though he said something along the lines of “Grimmons will never be canon.” or “Sarge secretly wants to be a blue.”. The tension in the air was so thick it was suffocating. No one spoke, driven into shocked silence due to Donut’s explanation. He understood this would be difficult, but it was so much worse than he previously thought. He was expecting cursing, yelling, maybe projectiles being thrown at him, he could handle that, he had for a long time, but the silence, he couldn’t handle that. Just, talk already, say  _ something _ he can latch onto, something that will pull him down so deep that he can fully disconnect from the guilt and fear. Say something,  _ do _ something, yell, throw things,  _ hit him _ even, just don’t stare with disbelief and confusion because  _ how in the name of God are you that stupid you shouldn’t have made it this far  _ **_why are you still here you should have died when Tex threw a bomb at your face or Wash shot you why aren’t you dead yet-_ **

“Are you fucking kidding me?!” Grif suddenly shouted, pulling Donut from his thoughts and making him very aware of the fact that he was digging his nails into the back of his neck and he almost just gave himself away and oh god that would have been so frickin bad they would question  _ everything _ he had ever said or hinted at and he can’t let them find out because  _ it’s not that important and they really shouldn’t worry and he’s  _ **_doing it again stop before they find out CALM DOWN BEFORE YOU RUIN EVERYTHING-_ **

Donut is suddenly aware of the fact that Grif is still shouting, spewing profanities and cursing every God that he can think of in as short a time as humanly possible. 

“I mean really!” Grif is now pacing slightly, his movements short and frantic, and he is absolutely seething. He suddenly turns sharply to look at Donut, eyes full of fury Donut has only seen a handful of times since meeting him. “How the hell are you so  _ dense _ that you knock over a giant fucking candle?!” That one stung, but a sting almost like the ones he makes himself, it gives him something to roll around in his mind, something to hold onto. In all honesty, he expected this kind of outburst, and at this point, Grif is only fueling the fire in his mind.

“Dude, chill. It sucks yeah, but we’ll make it work. Plus, it’s not like he _tried_ to burn the base down.” The sound of Tucker’s voice actually surprised him, he wasn’t expecting anyone to stand up for him, because, well, Grif wasn’t wrong, but it brought this small amount of warmth to his chest, and with it, panic. Standing up for him only meant Tucker would have to deal with Grif as well, things like that never end well, someone always gets hurt and it only makes things worse for him in the long run because **_why are you questioning him and_** _wait calm down he isn’t your father_ ** _this isn’t how that works_** _no one is going to get hurt_ ** _it’s_** **_fine_** _._

“Grif is kinda right actually.” Everyone turns to Simmons, who looks far less than pleased at this entire situation and his robotic eye seems to be twitching in irritation. He turns to Donut, his face pulling into a grimace as he speaks. “Those things are pretty damn big, it’d take quite a bit to knock them over, especially considering he has fancy holders for them.” His face grew more judgemental and suspicious as he spoke, seemingly pulling Donut apart with his eyes.

“Wait, are you suggesting that he intended to set the base on fire?” Wash said, voice thick with disbelief and an underlying tone of disapproval, almost as though he couldn’t fathom what the maroon solder was implying. Donut felt another spike of anxiety, he hadn’t even thought of that possibility and his stomach was tying into knots just from Wash’s words, if his team actually thought that..he felt sick, his heart suddenly in his throat.

“No no,” Simmons shook his head quickly, making that line of assumptions fade, and with it, Donut’s mind-numbing worry. He could handle them hating him for a while, that was normal, but actually thinking that he tried to do something like that, he would fall apart on the spot.

“It’s just that,” Simmons continued, pausing as he seemed to be struggling with words, and from the look on his face, it was something along the lines of ‘How do I say this nicely’. “We all know how, clumsy, Donut can be.” Well, not the worst way he could’ve said that, but it stung a little. Donut kinda wished he didn’t try and sugarcoat it.

“See?” Grif said, throwing his hands up in victory and frustration as he glared slightly at Tucker. “Donut is a fucking idiot and because of him our base is gone!” There it was, that’s what he was expecting from everyone when he first spoke, unbridled rage and harsh words, and he could have sworn he heard Simmons mutter something about rations. 

“I vote we kneecap em’!” Sarge’s voice rang out, his shotgun already raised and pointed at Donut’s legs, the latter of which shuffled backward at the proposal. A look of horror flashed across Washington’s face before he stepped in front of Donut protectively. 

“No! Even if we were to punish him,” Wash gave the crowd of people a pointed look before speaking again. “Which we’re  _ not, _ ” His voice was strong and firm, a finality in it that no one dared argue with, and his words were long and drawn out, making sure everyone heard them clearly. “That is not an adequate form of punishment!” He finished in a huff, obviously frustrated at having to step in once again to make sure no one got shot. 

“Sounds like a pretty good idea to  _ me _ .” came a muffled protest from the small crowd. Washington’s head snapped to where it was coming from, or rather,  _ who _ , before he sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose in irritation, Donut couldn’t see past him and thus couldn’t see who the voice belonged to, but he had a pretty good idea that it was-

“Grif,” Wash started, voice calm as always, but Donut could tell his patience was wearing thin. “I understand you’re upset but we’re not going to-” 

“Ah ha! Why didn’t I see it before?” Sarge’s voice once again cut through the air, successfully cutting Washington off and demanding attention. His voice was excited and held an edge to it that everyone had come to call the ‘Dumbass plan that will never work and somehow involves dying or shooting Grif’ voice.

“ Oh, esto debería ser bueno.” Came a rather unimpressed response from Lopez, who Donut honestly thought had left until he spoke. His presence wasn’t all that comforting thought, or was it just that Donut didn’t want to be comforted? He had no idea, but- oh people were still talking, right.

“We shoot Grif, problem solved.” Sarge said, a little too giddy at the prospect of shooting the orange soldier. Grif responded by backing up with a quick “Fuck no!” as he pressed himself against Simmons in an attempt to deter the Red leader.

“Ahí está otra vez.” Lopez said flatly, a knowing in his voice as Donut could practically feel the eye roll. If he could even roll his eyes, he didn’t know, could Lopez even take his armor off? Donut had never seen his without it, well, unless you count not having a body, but that was a completely different circumstance. Man, he is really bad at remembering people hate him, he really needed to get better at that. How do you even hone that skill? Do you write it down? Keep a mental note? Focus Donut! People are talking about you, well, right now people are talking about shooting Grif for...whatever reason.

“We’re not kneecapping anyone!” Came Washington’s shout of frustration, the sound snapping Donut out of his thoughts and making him wince slightly, the yell catching him off guard, and he silently thanked whatever deity that was still on his side for some reason that he was still hidden behind Wash.

Everything slowly devolved into chaos, people were shouting at each other and throwing profanities back and forth. Everyone was arguing, sometimes about the base, sometimes about Donut. He could make out a heated argument between Grif and Tucker, the latter of the two obviously defending the young red while the former shot down his argument. Simmons was to busy keeping Sarge from shooting Grif, or anyone else for that matter, to break them up, plus Donut wasn’t even sure he would if he had the chance. 

Lopez was spouting random things such as “¡Chicos, la otra base está en llamas!” and "¡Idiotas! ¡La base se va a quemar y todo lo que te importa es si matamos al idiota rosa o no!" to be involved in any of the arguments. And poor Washington was caught up in the middle of it all, trying desperately to get people calm and organized again, an endeavor that was completely lost on their comrades.

Donut stayed silent, thoughts jumbled and panicked, the yelling only adding to his dazed state. The noise around him slowly faded, leaving him feeling cold and numb, unable to hear or see, although his eyes stared at the ground unblinking. His breathing was rapid but quiet, he was struggling to keep it under control, he didn’t want to break-down in front of these guys, he  _ couldn’t _ , he didn’t want them to know. He was Donut, he was the happy naive one, the ok one, the one they didn’t have to worry about because he somehow made it out of every situation, no matter how impossible it seemed. He was fine no matter what, the comments didn’t bother him, they didn’t make him insecure, they didn’t hurt, he was fine, he had to be.

“We have more important problems at the moment!” Carolina’s voice cut through the noise, clear and grounding. Everyone grew quiet as they turned to look at her, the argument momentarily forgotten. She was carrying Caboose on her shoulders, his armored body clinging tightly to her helmet, making her push his hands out of her eyes every so often. Behind them was- 

“Oh goddamnit.” Came the pissed and absolutely exhausted remark from Grif after seeing that Blue base was now on fire as well. Carolina slowly put Caboose on the ground, but he still clung tightly to her side. “While you all were busy shouting at each other, you failed to notice that the fire was slowing making its way over to Blue base as well, so now we're down  _ two _ bases and have far fewer rations than we had before.” Her voice was stern, yes, but the disappointment was the most prominent emotion there.

“Eso es lo que dije! Me voy.” Lopez said before storming off to god knows where.

Donut could feel his chest tighten so much he felt like his ribs were going to crack, he couldn’t breathe, the air leaving his lungs to fast for his body to control. This wasn’t supposed to happen, not that burning Red base down was either, it wasn’t like he was  _ trying _ to burn it, or Blue base, down, it just happened, but this made things so much worse. Now what would they do? When they had Blue base it was going to be annoying bunking together yeah, but at least they  _ could _ , now Blue base is gone and they can’t even  _ do _ that and they have no shelter and it’s his fault and oh god they’re going to kill him and suddenly kneecapping doesn’t sound that bad and maybe they could shoot him in the head while they’re at it to just get rid of the problem and he  _ can’t breath he can’t get air into his lungs oh god this is worse then being under the ship  _ **_is this what dying feels like it hurts his legs are going to collapse calm down you’re still around the others they can’t know they would worry or call you weak and he doesn’t know which is worse at the moment just someone say SOMETHING MAKE IT STOP PLEASE-_ **

“Well?” Came a rather loud and absolutely livid remark that pulled Donut out of his spiral, his breath slowing to a controllable pace. Grif turned back toward Tucker, who was staring at Blue base with a look of disbelief. “Well? See what I mean?” Tucker turned toward him, sputtering as he tried to find some way to defend the clumsy red and his own argument. He eventually realized that there was no way he could win, so he shot a quick ‘Shut up.’ Grif’s way before growing silent.

Washington sighed, exhaustion seeping through his voice as he struggled to find an upside to all of this. “Ok look,” he said, voice commanding and strong. “We aren’t that far from Chorus, so we can contact Kimball and request supplies and a construction team. Until then, we’ll have to make do with what we have.”

“Ok but, what exactly is that Wash?” Tucker asked, his voice was frustrated, but he was trying to keep it concealed, although he was doing a poor job of it. Donut wouldn’t blame him if he just dropped the act, he was obviously pissed and he had no more argument, it would just be easier to side with the others. But then again, Tucker had always been the stubborn one, plus he probably didn’t want a disappointed Washington to deal with.

Washington thought for a moment, face clouded and eyebrows drawn together in concentration. Surprisingly, everyone stayed quiet instead of trying to gain the upper hand in their argument. Donut supposed that was one way the had changed over the years, even if it was small, it showed a lot. Wash finally came to a conclusion, finality covering his features as he formed a plan.

“Ok, listen up.” His voice was strong and carried the confidence of a captain commanding his team, which he might as well be doing. “The temperature here is rather comfortable, even at night, and it’s not like we haven’t roughed it before.” He said, looking around at the small group of people to see if there was any objection, finding none he continued. “We set up shelter, if we start now, it should be done before the sun sets, maybe get a fire going, gather up the leftover rations, see if we can find any bedding or things of that nature, there might be stuff in the warthogs, we can check there first.” Washington’s voice was calm but still held that leading tone, and it helped to soothe Donut’s frazzled nerves.

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Came a rather sharp response to Wash’s proposal, making Donut’s heart rate spike again, so much for finally calming down.

“No, actually Grif, I’m not.” Wash’s voice was almost bored and very much done with everyone’s shit. “Think of it as...a campout.” He said with all the fake enthusiasm he could muster, which was a surprisingly high amount.

Everyone’s attention was suddenly pulled toward the direction of a rather loud gasp of excitement. “A campout?” Caboose, who had been rather quiet ever since he and Carolina showed up was now practically bouncing in excitement, eye’s bright and full of the childlike wonder they usually held. “That’s like, it’s, that,” He sputtered as he tried to say what was running through his head. “That’s just like a sleepover,” Caboose suddenly paused, eye’s twinkling as though he was about to share a secret. “ _ Outside. _ ” He finished his previous comment in a loud enthusiastic whisper. His face suddenly shifted from excitement to bewilderment. “Right? That’s what a campout is? Or am I just confused again.” He asked quietly, although the last part came out sounding more like a statement than anything.

Wash’s mouth pulled into a slight smirk, one he was only half trying to hide. His face had the look of someone who just  _ knew _ they had won a long-fought argument and was about to deliver the final blow. He locked eye’s with Grif as he spoke, voice calm although his face conveyed his true emotions. “That’s right Caboose, just like a sleepover.” His eyes only grew in intensity as he spoke, and the look he gave Grif practically radiated the message ‘Go ahead, argue. You can’t win this one.’.

Grif gritted his teeth together, but stayed silent, the glare he had been giving Washington multiplied tenfold. Tucker quietly snickered before regaining his composure and turning to Wash, a proud look in his eyes due to the amount of sass Grif had just received. Washington blushed slightly, although the reason why escaped Donut. It was almost as if-  **oh** . He would have to look into that at some point.

“If all that is over with, we need to get started. We’ve wasted enough time as it is.” Carolina said sternly. “She’s right.” Washington quickly agreed with her, previous sass and  _ puppy love _ forgotten for the moment. “We need to get started on camp right away, we don’t want to be unprepared when night falls.” He said, falling back into the leadership role rather easily. “Even if the dinosaurs are gone…” He added as an afterthought, his voice holding disbelief at what he was saying.

Jobs were assigned quickly and easily, and Donut tuned who did what out, for the most part, his thoughts foggy and jumbled, despite the fact that everything had calmed. He was still spiraling down into the depths of his mind with no safety net nor rope to catch him, or at the very least slow his descent.

“Donut, did you hear me?”

Donut was shaken from his thoughts by a soft voice, he looked up and saw Washington staring at him gently, waiting for an answer. It took a moment for his brain to catch up with what he was being asked, and that time was enough for Wash to shoot him a worried look and say. “I’m guessing not?” 

Donut finally shook the last of his thoughts away to the point where he could answer. “Uh, no, sorry. What was it?” He said sheepishly, a nervous smile covering his features as he spoke. He swore he heard someone scoff in disapproval, although whether it actually happened or if he imagined it he had no idea. Both were very possible.

“I said you will be helping me and Carolina set up camp, mainly doing odd jobs here and there, plus it’s always good to have an extra set of hands on deck.” That was probably the nicest way he has ever been told ‘We don’t want you fucking things up so you’re staying where we can see you.’ in his life. Washington really did have a way with words.

Soon everyone departed, each going off to do their respective duties, leaving Donut, Washington, and Carolina. 

“I’m going to start scouting for an area, you and Donut stay here for now.” And with that, Carolina was off, which meant that left him alone with Wash, the one person that had caught onto the fact that he wasn’t as ok as he pretended,  **fuck** . 

He knew how this was going to end, Wash would start asking him questions, just small things, small unimportant things that he would have no reason to hide until he was comfortable with them because hey, they’re small, they don’t matter. And then he would start to ask him bigger questions, but they would have worked up to them already, so it would be easy to make him comfortable with those as well. Then he would start asking the real questions, the important ones, the ones that make him break open and cause all his secrets to spill. It was an interrogation and torture tactic, far more effective with torture, but with the state his mind was in it probably wouldn’t make much of a difference.

But surprisingly, the questions never came. Wash just walked over to a small hill and sat down on it, stretching his limbs out and groaning in relief when said limbs cracked satisfyingly. He patted the ground next to him and waited for Donut to sit down beside him. “You heard her, we don’t really have anything to do until she comes back, so may as well relax.” He folded his arms under his head, leaning back and watching the clouds. Donut slowly let his body slump, leaning back and joining Washington, staring up into the pale blue and orange sky as his mind wandered.

A comfortable silence fell over them, one that neither intended to break anytime soon. Eventually, the sun moved in a way that they could no longer lay down without it being in their eyes, so they sat up, making small talk as they waited for Carolina to return. Suddenly Washington paused, worry and alarm flickering over his features before he could hide it, he gently grabbed Donut arm, turning it over so that he could see the underside of it, eyes widening before he quickly concealed the worry once again. Donut didn’t understand what he was looking at until he looked down and-  **_oh no_ **

His forearm was bright red and blistering, the skin obviously irritated. Washington gently turned his arm this way and that, trying to see the extent of the burn. after he was done he slowly lifted his head to look at Donut, eyebrows drawn together and eyes serious. “Donut,” He spoke calmly, as though he was worried he would scare Donut off, which wasn’t that far from the truth actually. His heart was hammering in his chest so loud he was sure Wash heard it. “How did this happen?” Wash’s voice was infuriatingly caring and calm, with just an undertone of worry he wasn’t able to hide.

Donut racked his brain for a believable excuse, Washington was smart, he wouldn’t take just any random reason. It needed to be specific, or extremely vague, it depended on the situation, and he really didn’t know for this one. “I uh, I  _ may _ have burned myself on the way out of the base.” He really hoped that did the trick because he didn’t have any better than that. It might be perfect though, because he was the closest to the fire, and it would explain the half-hearted thumbs up he had given Wash.

Wash’s features turned suspicious for a moment, but Donut kept the sheepish clumsy look and it seemed to do the trick as his features turned soft again. “Why didn’t you say anything?” He asked quietly, disbelief filling his voice and Donut could just barely make out the sadness in it.

“Well, everyone was kinda busy, plus I didn’t think it was that bad.” And yeah he may have revealed a little more than he wanted but that’s ok because it makes it more believable. Wash opened his mouth to say something else, but before he could Carolina came back saying she had found a good place to set up camp and they needed to get moving.

They both got up and followed after her, Wash sticking in the back with Donut for a moment saying “When we get camp set up and everything, I’ll take a look at it ok?” Donut nodded slightly, if he said no it would have just made Wash suspicious and ruined everything he just said. “And Donut, if something like that happens again, tell me, please?” Donut paused, but nodded again, if for nothing more then to appease Washington. Carolina called for Wash, and he jogged to catch up with her, but he tossed one last reassuring glance over his shoulder before falling into step with her and discussing the plans for that night.

It was god knows how late at night, it was pitch black outside with only the crackle of the fire and the faint glow of the stars to illuminate the world around them. Wash and Carolina’s plan had gone off without a hitch, the camp had been set up smoothly, they had no trouble getting the fire started, they found the didn’t have as little rations as previously thought, and they even found some bedding which was a nice surprise. They hadn’t contacted Kimball yet, but they would do that first thing tomorrow. Everyone had eaten and then chatted around the fire, the bad blood from earlier forgotten, well, for the most part. Simmons and Sarge didn’t want to talk to him, and Grif wouldn’t even acknowledge him, but other than that it was ok, everyone else got on fine so no biggie.

After sharing stories and tall tales around the fire, everyone slowly retired one by one, Washington took this time to pull Donut off to the side and dress his wound, then, with a pat on the shoulder and a goodnight, he turned in for the evening. All in all, it turned out to be a pretty good evening. There was only one thing left to do.

Donut pulled a small utility knife out of a compartment in his armor and opened one of the blades on it, pressing it into his upper thigh.

  
  
  


**If they weren't going to punish him, he would do it himself.**

**Author's Note:**

> So uhhhh...yeah. That happened. Look, I think there is more to Donut then meets the eye, I mean, even CABOOSE has more characterization then him! And while he's gaining a more 3D personality, I can't help but think how that would translate to events that have already transpired. Speaking of translations, here are the translations to what Lopez has been saying throughout this story. 
> 
> “Oh, esto debería ser bueno.” ("Oh, this should be good.")
> 
> “Ahí está otra vez.” ("There it is.")
> 
> “¡Chicos, la otra base está en llamas!” ("Guys, the other base is on fire!")
> 
> "¡Idiotas! ¡La base se va a quemar y todo lo que te importa es si matamos al idiota rosa o no!" ("Idiots! The base is going to burn and all you care about is whether we kill the pink idiot or not!")
> 
> “¡Eso es lo que dije! Me voy.” ("That's what I said! I'm leaving.")
> 
> I apologize if they aren't 100% accurate, I used Google Translate so, it's probably wrong in some regard XP
> 
> I hope you enjoyed this story, as sad as it was. As always, kudos and comments are always appreciated, have a great day guys.


End file.
